Poor Unfortunate Souls
by TheAnalei
Summary: The city was ridden with orphans, all with a painful past. There's one orphanage that's just waiting to give them a place to call home. AU. Strawhat Pirates and Whitebeard Pirates.
1. Blue and Orange

**Warnings: Language, mentions of violence, imagery**

**Disclaimer: Eiichiro Oda owns One Piece but I own my plot and words!**

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**1: Blue and Orange**

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Bare feet pounded on the dirty ground as they ran through the dark streets of the city. The preteen wore ratty clothing that barely covered her scrawny form. Her orange hair was dirty and matted and her body was far too thin for it to be healthy. She was breathing heavily as she ran, weaving between drunkards and trying to escape from the loud yells behind her.

She smiled as she saw the alleyway she had grown so familiar with. Glancing all around her and seeing she had lost her pursuers, she grinned and ducked into the alleyway. There were several forks she came upon but she knew exactly which routes to take. She ignored the rats that scurried away in fear as she ran by and she didn't register (or rather she ignored) the awful stench or the disgusting trash as she sprinted.

When she finally reached the end of the maze, she was on the opposite side of the city, the slums. They wouldn't find her here.

She began to walk calmly down the streets. The people here knew her and just as she didn't rat them out for drug dealing or anything of the sort, they didn't rat out on her for stealing.

She hurriedly walked down the cracked sidewalk while hefting her bag higher up her shoulder, eyes trained on a run down apartment complex further down the street. She saw the light of one of the apartments on the second floor on and she smiled widely, walking faster in an attempt to get home quicker. Once she reached the run down building, she carefully walked up the steps, as though they would break underneath her feet.

Based on how the caretaker yelled at her to be careful, it was very likely that one day they would break.

She quickly ran down the long hall until she reached the last door and took out her key, unlocking the room with a worn out label that read "2F". The doorknob unlocked with a click and she shoved the heavy door open. Once in, she turned to quickly close it and lock it once more. Once she had done so, she grinned and turned around to run further into the apartment.

There was not much. It was a one-room apartment. There was a small kitchenette in the corner with one small counter next to a stove without a glass pane on its front, and an old refrigerator that looked like it was from the previous decade. The sink next to it was dirty and the right faucet was missing a knob. The small trashcan on the ground was practically empty since there was nothing to throw out.

There was no table in the room and the only other furniture was a large bed that could fit two small people. The floor was littered with books by all sorts of famous authors, whether the books were children's books or for adults. Not that there were adults in the house – that was why there were cobwebs on the ceiling and dirt littered the floor. Cleaning required chemicals, equipment – things they could not afford.

The bathroom door was only slightly open, but it seemed it was clean enough for use. However, it did not look like it was entirely sanitary to use.

The young 12-year-old girl ignored this as she ran up to the figure reading on the bed. "Nojiko!" The other, who seemed to be two years older, turned to the other with a grin.

"Nami, you're back," She smiled at the younger, closing the book in her hands and placing it on the bed. Nami crawled onto the bed, closer to the blue haired girl, and took her bag off of her shoulders. She opened it quickly and pulled out her earnings from todays stealing.

From some thugs who beat up a kid, she had stole one hundred dollars. She stole fifty three dollars from a cheap man who sold replicas to stupid tourists. She found at least thirty eight dollars on the ground – people were really getting careless nowadays – and a restaurant gave her some left over food after seeing her rummaging in the garbage to make her go away.

All in all, it was the best day in weeks, maybe even months.

"Wow, this is a lot Nami! You're getting better at this," Nojiko's smile slowly faded into a guilty frown. "I'm sorry you have to do this. I should be the one doing this…"

"It's not your fault!" Nami exclaimed, shouting and causing Nojiko to smile at her. "This is all Arlong's fault! And I'm not letting you do anything until you're better!"

With that said, Nami jumped off of the bed and quickly looked under it, pulling out a large amount of stolen medical products. Nojiko pulled the blanket off of her legs, followed by some bandages, as her sister handed her the box.

The state of her legs was awful. Third degree burns made angry marks on the bottom of her feet and the tops of her knees. Other burns, not quite as bad but still painful, travelled along her legs until they reached her mid thigh. The medicine they had seemed to help, along with the bandages they tried to put on, but it still wasn't enough.

They weren't doctors and they couldn't afford one.

Nami watched sadly as her sister reapplied the medicine and put on new bandages before motioning for her to get into the bed and to eat with her. The dinner was filled with pointless chatter about the day's events and the book Nojiko had read, and once done, leaving not a single scrap on the plate, Nami dumped the flimsy paper into the trash bin. She then turned the lights off and jumped onto the bed, not liking the dark. The dark reminded her of Arlong, and Arlong reminded her of-

Her thoughts were cut off as Nojiko held her in a hug. Nami's panic attack slowed and, while listening to her sister's heartbeat, she fell asleep. She didn't see the sorrowful look that her sister wore as she ran her hand through the orange hair.

"I'm sorry, Nami. As I am now, I'm just a burden to you. I promise, when I'm better, I'll make this up to you."

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**AN: Chapter one is up! I have to make this quick, but this story will be starting somewhat slow, and I don't have a plot yet, but I have quite a bit written down. New chapter will probably be up within two weeks to one month. **

**Thank you so much for reading! Please leave a review and tell me what you think! :D**


	2. Green

**Warnings: Child abuse/violence, language**

**Disclaimer: Eiichiro Oda owns One Piece, not me!**

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**2: Green**

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_"You stupid son!"_

_SMASH!_

_"Why can't you just pay attention in school for once? Why do you have to fight with every-" SLAP "-single-" PUNCH "-person-" SMACK "-you see?!"_

_He didn't say anything. It was pointless to correct the drunk man in front of him. He was just helping that kid out and besides, the one he beat up was being annoying and arrogant, two things he did not like._

_KICK!_

_"Are you even listening to me, you ungrateful little shit?!"_

_The green haired youth was roughly shoved to the ground and kicked in the face._

_"Why don't you just get lost somewhere and never come back?!"_

_The man who claimed to be his father – even though Zoro would never accept him – left the room. Zoro for once took his advice._

_He got lost and never returned._

Zoro slowly opened his eyes at the memory, waking from an unsatisfying sleep. The fourteen year old sighed and stood up, stretching as he took in his surroundings. No one had found him in the small alleyway he had shoved himself into to avoid the police. For some reason, _he_ decided to call the police on him.

Zoro refused to get caught and return to that hell.

Zoro opened the zipper of his jacket and looked at the inside pocket, checking its contents and sighing in relief that it was still there.

All one hundred dollars.

Maybe that was why _that man_ called the police. _He_ wanted his money back, even though a majority of it had been spent by now. He used to have one thousand dollars, but that was three months ago, January, right after he left.

Zoro grinned slightly at the thought of it – _that man_ storming around the house in rage, unable to find the money earned through drunken gambling. He probably didn't even realize Zoro was gone for a few days and only then would it click in the bastard's brainless head.

Zoro looked up as a drop of water landed on his head. The sky above was overcast and he could see the beginnings of an awful storm. Sighing, he huddled further into himself and sat back down in the doorway, putting the money back and holding three swords protectively to his chest.

One belonged to his best friend who died when they were young, struck by a drunk driver. They had both been kendo prodigies and were going to be the best of the best, but her death almost shattered that dream. He had been crushed, he had wanted to become the best with her. Only after her dad talked sense into him did he reaffirm his dream. Her father then gave him her sword, entrusting it to him.

But, soon after that, her dad moved away due to financial reasons, taking his dojo with him, leaving him with a father who slowly became alcoholic after the death of his mother by cancer. He had a picture of his dead friend, Kuina, and his mother in a separate pocket, and he swore that if he lost either, he would probably cry, and he _never_ cried.

That was just how much it meant to him though. Their encouragements from years ago still played in his head. Now, he just hoped they were there for his adventure into the unknown world.

No one who noticed the boy offered him any help as he became drenched in the rain, clutching his swords tighter, his mom and friend's words close to his heart.

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**AN: Yo! I know this is short, but the chapters for this story will all be relatively short.**

**The Voice of all Things: Thanks! I'm curious about it too :)**

**MegDBrew: I hope you liked it!**

**scatteredPhilosopher: Most of my stories end up dark. It's like I can't write anything NOT dark. This one will have dark undertones, that's for sure, that's only the beginning. Don't really know about what's next. I'm glad you liked it! :)**

**Trafalgar-Sev: Thanks! I always thought that they would be orphans, or similar harsh situations, in an AU that plays as close as possible to their OP situations. Ah, that makes me happy though. I'm concerned about writing those to too OoC, so I'm glad you thought they weren't. Yep, that's the plan! But each individual chapter will focus on a different character throughout. I'm so glad you liked it, I hope you like this chapter too :)**

**Thanks for the reviews, you guys! Thank you so much for reading as well! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please leave a review! :)**


	3. Shades of Blue

**Warnings: angst, language, mentions of violence**

**Disclaimer: Eiichiro Oda owns One Piece, but I own my words!**

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**3: Shades of Blue**

The younger clenched onto the older boy's hand as he watched the fire raging behind him with tears in his eyes. He tried to pull back, to run back and save them, but the elder wouldn't allow it. He grabbed the younger, tossed him onto his shoulder and bolted.

He ran for what felt like hours, trying to get away from the dangerous men and the awful aftermath of their destruction. The younger of the two had stopped struggling long ago but he could still feel him shaking slightly with sobs.

He himself had to bite his lip, grind his teeth and take deep breaths to calm himself down. He wanted to cry, but he couldn't. Not now. The other needed him.

They were in a park right now, in the pitch black of midnight. They were covered in soot, dirt, ash and the smell of smoke and gasoline. Parts of their clothes were singed and some of the tips of their hairs were burned. Both were exhausted and all they wanted to do was to sleep in their beds at home.

But that home was now gone, gone up into flames because their dad refused to make a dangerous weapon.

They would forever be proud of their adoptive father, even if this killed him.

The older put the younger down in front of a bench before sitting himself and pulling the younger up into a hug.

"Baka-burg…where's Tom-san? He…h-he's not really dead, is he?" The younger, with light blue hair, looked up at the elder, whose darker blue hair seemed black in the night. He could barely make out the frown the older made.

"It's just us now, Franky."

Franky clutched onto his shirt and sobbed again.

Both felt guilty about this. Especially Franky. He knew that jerk who just murdered his father was the father of a kid he never got along with in school. The two were constantly fighting because the other was so arrogant and stupid and couldn't live up to the words he said.

But he did live up to one thing, and it was the "I'll-tell-my-daddy" phrase.

Now look where it's gotten them.

Iceburg was quiet. He had already yelled at Franky earlier, right before the explosion happened. He didn't want to do it right now. He just felt…hollow. The man who had raised him for all of these years of his life was gone in the blink of an eye. He didn't know what to do now that the man he admired most in life was gone. Now it was just him and Franky, the young boy Tom had taken in a few years ago.

Iceburg had no idea how to take care of a ten year old kid; hell he was only sixteen and still considered a kid to the rest of the adult world. He never really paid attention to Franky and they mostly just bickered. Franky never came to him to ask for help – they both went to Tom-san. And now he was gone.

Iceburg's eyes hardened in determination. Yes, he held resentment for Franky for angering that boy's father – right now he really wished Franky had just never entered his life – but Tom took him in. He knows Tom won't do that with just anybody. He saw something in this Franky kid and even if he didn't like it, he would make sure this brat lived.

Tom-san wanted him to live, after all, and he didn't want to make those wishes end up fruitless.

"Wh'tre we g'nna do?" Franky mumbled tiredly, slumping against the larger body. Iceburg sighed and picked the smaller, exhausted child up, maneuvering him to his back, surveying his surroundings and looking for anything useful. He had some cash on him from earlier – Tom had shoved it into his hands. He wondered, absently, if Tom _knew_ this was going to happen.

Across the street from the park, he could see a flickering motel sign. It wasn't fancy and it wouldn't be the best, but it would have to do.

He never answered Franky's question and just walked to the motel to rent the room. The bored looking attendant just gave them a once over, not even bothering to ask their age and even offering them a few drinks. Iceburg refused. Once they were in the one-bed bedroom, because that was all he could afford, he placed the younger down. Franky curled up into the pillows on that side of the queen sized bed while Iceburg just sat down on the other side.

He took a deep, shuddering breath and placed his head in his hands, doing nothing to stop the tears. Now that the younger brat was asleep, he could cry.

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**AN: I'm so sorry that this is so late. I'm late on all of my updates right now. GAHHH I'm sorry :( . Even though this was short, I hope that you enjoyed it!**

**Rin101: I'm glad you enjoyed it!**

**scatteredPhilosopher: It'll definitely come into play in the future, but like you said, since Zoro doesn't look to the past too much, it'll be short. Hopefully impactful (is that a word?), but short.**

**TrafalgarSev: I might do that, I haven't gotten that far yet. It's definitely a possibility though. But I need to get out of my writers block before I can even think of that :/ .**

**Nimphy-Ryuu-chan: It has an underlying plot kind of, but it's mostly just watching their different situations. And yes, they'll all meet someday :)**

**Rin101: Thank you :)**

**Once again, sorry for this extremely late update. I'm gonna keep trying to dig myself out of my hole of procrastination and lack of motivation and writers block. Ahhhh I'm sorry. BUT I hope that you all liked the chapter. Please leave a review to tell me what you think of it! :D**


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